Welcome to Edinburgh!

July 23, 2018

Hello all,

So here’s the update from the past week with transfers. When I got my call to be with Elder Gowans I was so excited! He is such a good missionary and someone that I have looked up to in the mission from the very start of coming out! So it is such a dream being able to be with him!!!

So Sunday was sad saying my goodbyes. The night before i started to pack a lot of the things for whatever reason! But thankfully I did because at the end of church around 4:00 pm the Zone Leaders came in and told me my bus is at 5:15 pm! So I had to rush saying goodbye to people and didn’t get to see some of them that I had planned to which I was really bummed about. I am just excited to go!! At the bus station I said my goodbyes and it was pretty emotional! I gave my first talk in church on my mission and about the Holy Ghost my last Sunday in Dublin.

So about our travels: Elder Moffitt and I took a bus to Belfast and stayed the night with someone brothers and ad such a fun night! I didn’t get to much sleep though, I wonder why?!?!! In the morning we went and took the ferry to Scotland and then took several of buses and trains. The Zone Leaders pretty much told me I was in charge of everyone so that was fun! Well after a day of travel I made it the Flagship, Edinburgh Scotland!!!

Edinburgh is so different then Dublin, it’s so beautiful and spread out! Yes it’s still a big city like Dublin but just cooler and wide. My first week has been so fun! The recent converts are so amazing and people are really good with feeding the missionaries. In later emails I will tell you more about people and such! It really is nice being here. I have tons of things that I need to improve on but I am ready and excited to work and there are so many people all around me that will help me to improve so I am excited!

This next week will be really good I think because I know what I am doing and all that I need to be better at, so I looking forward to working!

Sorry about my brace! What a crazy thing. As you can see from the pictures my brace was destroyed. It was quite scary but thankfully I am good and so is my knee. Yes, Sister call is so amazing!!!! I am so excited to get to know her more.

Today I am going to get a haircut and just chilling for PDay.

So I have a challenge for you and the family to keep reading the scriptures and praying every day. I know you do already but please make a greater effort to do more.

I love you and have a great week!

Love,

Elder O’Connor

(Momma's Note: Thank heavens for other parents, missionaries and members that send me pictures.)

This picture was sent to us by the mother of the missionary in the middle who they

were there picking up at the conclusion of his mission. Mikey had just arrived in

Edinburgh after a long day and a half of travels. Also they took him and Elder Gowans out to dinner.

Day 1 in Edinburgh...visiting Sister Call in the Mission Home

(This is an expert taken from Sister Call's blog that explains these three photos...

Thursday night after work Sister Gifford and I ran a few errands and then we got home but I had to leave again at 9:30 pm to go find Elder O’Connor. His mom had texted me to say he had broken his leg brace and she needed pictures and the serial number so she could get to work on getting it replaced before he re-injured himself. So I left about 9:20 pm to drive over to their flat near the meadows. I called once I got there and they came down to the parking area so I could take the pictures. We got them sent off to his mom and hopefully his new brace is coming soon for him. Elder Gowans has also been having knee issues so these two are quite the pair. They are both a bit in pain and hobble around a bit but they are both wonderful missionaries who I adore. Lucky for me both these boys come from Utah so I hopefully won’t loose touch with these missionaries that have grown in my heart. This picture looks like it is the middle of the day but it is going on 10:00 PM. It doesn’t get dark here until well after 11:00 and then it is light again by 4:00 AM. I love it.)